D-man Jeremy Lin of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants is “fired up” to play in the upcoming CHL USA Prospects Challenge. He has been looking forward to this latest challenge in his young career, and his excitement is understandable. Although Team CHL was put together by way of draft status regardless of nationality, its roster is dominated by Canadian players, thus providing this two-game set with the flavor of an international rivalry. Team CHL’s 22-man roster consists of 16 Canadians, 4 Americans, 1 Czech and 1 Russian. Adding to this True North flavor, Canadian forward Liam Ruck of Medicine Hat in the WHL recently was added to Team CHL’s roster to replace injured American forward Brooks Rogowski of Oshawa in the OHL. Attached is a link to nhl.com writer Mike Morreale’s article providing further information on both rosters, and the format of the games themselves.
Team CHL d-man Chase Reid of Sault Ste. Marie in the OHL also has plenty of motivation in performing well in Alberta. In addition to the potential to enhance his draft status, a good showing at this Prospects Challenge will help make his case for a roster spot on the United States’s world junior team. Although not listed on Elite Prospects recent roster projection, a good performance at this event may change this prediction. The link to a recent article I prepared discussing world junior roster projections for both Team USA and Team Canada is attached.
Finally, there is the most interesting case of Team CHL goaltender Harrison Boettiger of Kelowna in the WHL. Before joining Kelowna this season, Boettiger competed for Team USA’s National Team Development Program for two seasons. As part of Team USA’s goaltending tandem in 2024-25, he competed in the 2024 Prospects Challenge. However, because Boettiger has a December birthday, he was ineligible to be drafted in 2025. This is because NHL rules dictate that a player must be 18 years of age on or before September 15 of that year to be draft-eligible. Therefore, although Boettiger is a 2007 birth year, his draft year is 2026, like all Team CHL players and most Team USA players.
https://www.nhl.com/news/top-2026-nhl-draft-prospects-fired-up-for-chl-usa-hockey-challenge